Finding You
by i love ayn rand
Summary: It's been three years since the Shaman Fight that Yoh had disappeared. Anna, one day, receives a package that may lead her back to Yoh and solve what had happened. However, a certain young man doesn't want her to know. [HaoXAnna]
1. MEDIOCRITY

A/N: This is a gift for Shaza due to my horrifying laziness. If you're a devoted HaoXAnna fan, this is for you (but mainly for Shaza, of course).

ONE – MEDIOCRITY

Her hands groped in the darkness of the closet to uncover several books out of the clutter of paper, ragged dolls, and old wrappers from various sources. Magazines of entertainment and even a shaman magazine dumped onto the floor. She flipped through several of the books and picked out two she thought would be useful to her.

Long ago, he had left a book behind for her. Actually, it was not definitely left for her but it was something he may have expected her to read before that day happened. She thought silently of what reading it might mean. The other book that laid on the ground was blank. She knew it without having to open it. She left the mess as it was and left the room quietly. There wasn't much for her in there.

She entered the kitchen and seemed almost surprised that no one waited for her. She had half-expected that he would wait for her. She sighed and set the two books on the table and decided to make something for herself. Occasionally, people at school would ask her what had happened to Yoh. She said it wasn't her business to tell her and it wasn't.

Anna Kyouyama sighed at the empty pot as the foggy complexion kept her from seeing her true image. She didn't care at that point. She never cared. A part of her walked out the door when Yoh was no longer there.

To get to the point, it had been four years since the shaman fight had ended and there was no word. At some point in the competition with unforeseen circumstances, all who were not contestants were instructed to leave. Not to stir any trouble, she agreed to leave as well. The shaman fight had ended but the results were unknown. Whoever was the shaman king didn't seem to do a thing.

Anna strolled to the calendar and marked off another day. It would be three days before her birthday. Secretly, she wished he would return on that day to surprise her. No—she told herself—if he would fulfill that wish, he would have done that three other times.

As an update, Anna Kyouyama was approaching toward college entrance exams, which had considerably taken her mind off of many things. It was a very good distraction and sought to make it into a college whatever it would take. She knew it was a bad place where to place her value but her value as a shaman was no longer there without the shaman fight. She thought about summoning spirits to find Yoh but they came back empty-handed. She was suspicious for a while and then she grew bored and gave up.

Tamao Tamamura returned home at night and didn't say a word. Over the years, Anna watched as the apprentice of the Asakura family had become far more than an apprentice. Anna had always given the same sort of respect Tamao, if not greater than Anna gave to others, but now, Tamao had measured up to earn that respect. They both went to the same school although Tamao was a grade lower. She was a far cry from a stereotyped popular but was greatly admired in her grade for her originality from personality to clothing. This had made her part of the student council but she didn't contribute much and no one really minded. Her random ideas often provided enough motivation to fulfill her role as secretary.

In her grade, Anna saw herself as an outcast. Many boys had asked her out on several occasions and she would always turn them down. She continued to read minds of her classmates, and told their secrets through devastating rumors as a way to punish them for condemning her. Friendships were torn in pieces, rivalries were formed, and people fought one another. It was a wonderful way for her to observe the human specimen.

"Where is Manta?" Anna asked politely. Tamao shrugged. Manta Oyamada had grown up over the years. The mother's side of height had finally kicked into him. It is generally known that sons tended to take after the genes from their mother's side. He was fairly popular as his height had stabilized but he, like Anna, had turned down many other girls who had once condemned him for being too short just a few years ago. Manta never said anything about Yoh. She never asked why and they all kept it to that.

Out of all circumstances when Tamao had returned, Anna had noticed something peculiar.

"Is that Manta's?" Anna asked Tamao as she pointed to the package at the door.

"I think so. I didn't order anything." Tamao shrugged. Anna went to check the package, flipped it over, and saw Manta Oyamada's name on it as she suspected. However, what she didn't suspect was the return address. She looked around and took the parcel. "Is it Manta's?" she heard Tamao call from kitchen.

"It's for me!" Anna lied. "My shirt I bought from eBay came in today." She explained and took the box to her room. "Make dinner." Tamao didn't respond as Anna didn't need to repeat herself. Tamao never spoke too much. As Anna withdrew to her room and locked the door, she felt very conscious of whoever may or may not be watching. She closed the blinds and set the parcel on her mattress and examined the return address.

No word in three years—she remembered.

The return address was printed with Yoh Asakura's name.


	2. WITH LOVE

TWO – WITH LOVE

She tore open the contents of the box and found several envelopes that were slightly battered and tattered through some sort of handling. She checked them for attempts of delivery: no stamps, no postmark, no return address. A blank envelope with certain contents within its fold.

She opened some of the letters but didn't understand what they were. There words of course, but it was only one word. She glanced at the pile of envelopes within the box and there were piles and piles of envelopes. Fearing mildly, she took another envelope and unfolded its piece of paper. A second word.

What in the world was Yoh trying to tell Manta—she thought slowly—unless...

"Anna, you in there?"

"Shut up." She glared at the door as if it was the one who spoke.

"Okay." Manta's footsteps faded down the hallway. Was Manta expecting a package?

She took out several more from the envelopes and found it had to be a sentence that Yoh may have wanted to communicate. Perhaps he had realized someone desperate enough would try to intercept his package and read it. The only person he probably knew desperate enough to do that was her. Anna would be the only one who wanted to know of his whereabouts.

It was hopeless to return this Manta even if he probably knew how to figure this terrible puzzle. It was wrong enough for her to trespass in his territory or even steal from him.

Her heart felt as if it stopped when she uncovered one piece of paper that had two words on it.

Tao Ren.

It was the only piece of paper out of the eight she revealed at the moment to have two words.

She gathered the papers together and stuffed all of them into one envelope and threw the empty ones back into the cardboard box. Anything I might throw away—she thought—may be something I'll regret. Everything seemed to be a puzzle.

In an instant, she conjured a plan to find out what this puzzle meant. She headed outside and shut the door to her room. She headed to the telephone and speed-dialed the Asakura household.

"I'm taking several weeks off of school." She paused. "No reason." She lied and hung up. She headed back to her room and gathered items she may need. In the end, it took her merely twenty minutes to gather her belongings together. Anna reached for her cell phone and dialed for the most convenient flight. "I'd like a ticket to China." She paused. "In three hours? Good."

She left the house without a word. Tamao and Manta did not bother to ask what the matter was. She was insensitive: in and out whenever she felt like. The moment Anna had left the house the phone rang coincidentally. Tamao picked it up and sighed.

"Hello?"

There was a faint familiarity behind his voice: "May I speak to her?"

"She left a while ago." Tamao's voice trailed off as the speaker on the other line hung up before she could finish her sentence.


	3. MODEL

CHAPTER 3 – MODEL

When Anna arrived in Japan, she had already contacted several agencies all who specifically denied her request on meeting Ren. Either he had a busy schedule, another photo shoot he could not miss, or more fans, they were devoted into keeping her away from him. For a faint reason, she knew it was both the work of Ren and Yoh to keep Anna from finding out more.

That didn't stop her from coming to China. Ren was now one of the most popular male models in the Asian countries, which deeply puzzled her. She had always observed the trinkets, knots, and switches of his mind trying to figure what makes him tick. However, she would have never suggested he would dare head into the modeling career. Ren was always the self-absorbed boy who wanted more power. If this was his way of obtaining it, then more power to him—she thought.

There had to be a way to corner him. She rented a hotel room and on the first night, she removed most of the papers from their envelopes with the papers' one to three letters a piece. There was no way that she could figure what Yoh was trying to communicate to Manta. The only possible chance she could break this puzzle was to see Ren.

She bit on her scarf with the possibility she may have to fight Ren to take him here. She would have to beat him and not just a slap. Unlike the other goofy boys who Yoh was always with in the Shaman Fight, Ren was not a person who would listen to anyone, especially her. Anna took the paper that read 'Tao Ren' in giant print and left her room. When she arrived at the lobby, she noticed the Events board, which conveniently announced of thirteen Asian models to arrive at this hotel within an hour for more photo shoots.

It was the perfect chance.

Groups of fangirls were already huddled outside of the hotel and inside the lobby areas helping themselves to some free food and chatting of who their favorite model was and why. It didn't bother her but their fake enthusiasm was a biting nuisance.

Anna observed the girls for a moment and finally realized what had to be done.

She went back to her room to take the nicest clothes she brought with her. She added a denim bucket hat and thin dark-rimmed shades. The itako thought of taking her beaded necklace with her but it would immediately draw attention. Instead, she resorted to keeping her beaded bracelet and wore the bride's necklace Kino gave to her when Anna was just a student.

Within the time span, Anna was able to braid her hair that has grown over the years. She had never bothered to cut it just because it was never worth the effort. After she felt everything was set and that she mimicked the near image of a Harajuku girl, she headed downstairs to find most of the models already here. However, none of them were Ren. Things had to be taken in hand now—she thought—as she began to scan the wandering thoughts of the male models and their agents who were with them.

Ren was already here.

The photo shoots will only be two hours long.

Quickly, she hurried over to the escalator and strolled as patiently as she could down the stairs to not look suspicious. Recalling some of the previous shamanic skills from the Asakura shrine, she made her way past the guards.

Door by door, she searched and was finally stopped by an agent.

"Where do you think you're going?" he asked. "What are you doing here? You're not allowed back here."

"I'm Tao Ren's sister, Jun. I want to see him."

"Regarding...?"

"Our father is dead. Is that a good reason enough for me to tell him?"

The man stood at disbelief and slowly was connecting the dots for himself. It made sense this 'fangirl' could be Ren's sister. They both had the same temper and in no way did 'Jun' seem thrilled about coming here like the population of high school girls in the hotel lobby.

"I'll let him know you're here."

"Be quick about it."

The guard walked past her and knocked on the door that was conveniently the closest to her. She heard a faint voice from the other side and the agent opened the door slightly.

"Ren, your sister is here to see you."

"Regarding what? Are you sure it's not another one of those hideously irritating fangirls?"

"She brings bad news that your father is dead."

After a long, definite pause, the model in the room reluctantly agreed.

"Let her in. Leave us alone."

The guard stepped away and allowed the young girl into the room. Anna thanked him politely stepping quietly and shut the door behind her hearing to make sure the agent was nowhere around. His footsteps faded in the hallway. Ren appeared not to notice. He's gotten a lot more handsome—she thought—his temper is worse.

"You could have told me this by phone." Ren answered hoarsely. There was no answer. He didn't expect any. "Do they want me back for a funeral?" He set the brush down on the vanity and looked away from the mirror. With that, he dropped the case of powder as the glass scattered on the floor like a bombing epidemic of parasites. "You..."

"Hi. I'm your biggest fan." Anna removed the glasses and smiled mysteriously. "Ren."


End file.
